Homemade Farmer’s Cheese (tvorog)
My mom’s method for Homemade Farmer’s Cheese. So easy, fresh and delicious every time. Takes less than an hour to make and enjoy hours later once cooled and drained. A 2-ingredient recipe that you will always want to make and keep in your fridge!
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Homemade Farmer’s Cheese is very easy to make. It only requires 2 ingredients: milk and vinegar. It’s truly amazing and if you try it, you will want to always have some on hand in your refrigerator. We like to enjoy it for breakfast or as snack with cup of tea or coffee. It’s good idea to always have some already made in refrigerator.
My mom always made this cheese with vinegar and it works magic every time. It’s cheap to make as you don’t need any extra dairy to make it besides milk. It’s a huge time saver as it only takes less than an hour to make and once cooled, you drain it and use it. There is no way I would want to wait days for cheese to form. When I start something, I like to get it done that same day (preferably). I have seen different methods online for homemade farmer’s cheese, but I found my mom’s recipe to always have the best flavor, texture and no unusual aroma to it.
I had never seen farmer’s cheese at my local stores. Probably because not all stores sell it, therefore, I never noticed. Fresh homemade is always better and I know the quality of my cheese. With organic milk and vinegar, I spend $7 maximum to make around 4-5 cups of farmer’s cheese. Most times, I would catch organic milk reduced in price with few days left until expiration date and that would make my cheese about $4. Such a great penny saver!
Farmer’s cheese is one of the easiest and delicious fillings to use for rolls, pastries, cakes and more. Like most Ukrainians, I LOVE farmer’s cheese and I bake a lot with it.
Best Milk for Homemade Farmer’s Cheese:
Try to use good quality milk. How do you know if it’s good quality? You really don’t. But, brands such as Organic Valley or Smith Brothers always were the best and always provide quality cheese. In fact, Organic Valley is the only milk I buy lately.
Use 2% or whole milk. Try avoiding 1% or anything below. Cheese with 1% turns out like sand. The million pieces don’t really connect and it’s hard to work with when baking. It just falls apart. Whole milk creates the best cheese. The cheese turns out thick and rich in flavor. The 2% is a bit thinner and works great as well. I try my best to avoid half & half and heavy cream, even if to add a bit to the rest of the milk. You will have hard time draining the cheese, as the cheese will look more like pudding in your pot and get stuck in the cheese cloth.
Can You Freeze Homemade Farmer’s Cheese?
Yes! I sometimes do it, but not often. To freeze cheese: cool, wrap in plastic food wrap and place into freezer bag. Keep up to 3 months. The frozen cheese texture differs a bit from freshly made cheese and becomes a bit fall-apart, but works great for Cheese Pancakes (sirniki) and other breakfast recipes. Therefore, I do it all the time. I take the cheese out to thaw overnight at room temperature to use in the morning. My family loves sirniki; kids especially.
Important Tips for Making Farmer’s Cheese:
1. Use Heinz distilled white vinegar for best results. My mom has tested different brands and from some of the brands the cheese didn’t want to turn out the way it’s supposed to.
2. Use stainless steel pot if you have one. The nonstick takes forever to bring the milk to bubble and you will most likely end up with milk scorching at the bottom of the pot.
3. Use Flour Sack Towel instead of cheese cloth. I bought it at my local Walmart and cut into 4 squares. It’s thick and works perfect for cheese making. Wash used flour sack towel in hot water with lightly soapy water, dry and re-use. From experience, cheese gets stuck in cheese cloth and usually they are pricier and one time use.
Farmer’s Cheese Ingredients:
- 1 gallon whole milk (I use Organic Valley)
- 1/2 cup Heinz distilled white vinegar
How to Make Farmer’s Cheese:
- Heat milk over medium-low until you see hundreds little bubbles appear, but do not bring to a boil. (it would take 30-40 minutes). Stir occasionally to prevent the milk from scorching at the bottom of the pot.
- Once you see lots of bubbles popping, slowly add distilled white vinegar and give it a gentle stir and wait for 30-60 seconds. Then stir again. The cheese will curdle (become crumbly) and the water should be lime-yellow-ish color. If it doesn’t, add a bit more vinegar until you do see that color of water. Remove from heat to cool to room temperature.
- Line a sieve or a colander with a flour sack towel. Slowly pour the cheese into the cloth to catch the curds. Gather the cloth around cheese and squeeze it as much as you can to get all the whey out. When you start seeing white-ish liquid coming out instead of lime color, you can stop there. *If saving whey (the lime water), drain the cheese into a bowl. People use whey for bread, different cooking and gardening.
- Refrigerate farmer’s cheese once cooled and keep it in refrigerator for up to a week.
Enjoy These Farmer’s Cheese Recipes:
- Cheese Pancakes (Sirniki) + Video – favorite breakfast
- Crepes With Cheese (nalisniki) – thin and delicate with creamy cheese filling
- Farmer’s Cheese Blueberry Crumb Cake – flaky, buttery and so easy
- Farmer’s Cheese Sweet Rolls (pirozhki) – so fluffy and mouth-watering
Homemade Farmer's Cheese (tvorog)
Ingredients
- 1 gallon whole milk (preferably organic)
- 1/2 cup Heinz distilled white vinegar
Instructions
- Heat 1 gallon milk over medium-low until you see hundreds little bubbles appear, but do not bring to a boil. (it would take 30-40 minutes). Stir occasionally to prevent the milk from scorching at the bottom of the pot.
- Once you see lots of bubbles popping, slowly add 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar, give it a gentle stir and wait for 30-60 seconds. Then stir again. The cheese will curdle (become crumbly) and the water should be lime/yellow-ish color. If it doesn’t, add a bit more vinegar until you do see that color of water. Remove from heat to cool to room temperature.
- Line a sieve or a colander with a flour sack towel. Slowly pour the cheese into the cloth to catch the curds. Gather the cloth around cheese and squeeze it as much as you can to get all the whey out. When you start seeing white-ish liquid coming out instead of lime color, you can stop there. *If saving whey (the lime water), drain the cheese into a bowl. People use whey for bread, different cooking and gardening.
- Refrigerate farmer’s cheese once cooled and keep it in refrigerator for up to a week.
Notes
- Use Heinz distilled white vinegar for best results.
- Use stainless steel pot to less likely end up with scorching at the bottom of the pot.
- Use Flour Sack Towel instead of cheese cloth.
- To freeze farmer's cheese: cool, wrap in plastic food wrap and place into freezer bag. Keep up to 3 months. The frozen cheese texture differs a bit from freshly made cheese and becomes a bit fall-apart, but works great for Cheese Pancakes and other breakfast recipes. Take the cheese out to thaw overnight at room temperature to use in the morning.
Kathy Gonzalez says:
I make this recipe often. Easy to do when I have too much milk on hand, turn it into cheese.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
I’m so happy to hear you’re enjoying this recipe, Kathy!
Maggi says:
Love, love, love this recipe!!! Easy to make and SO tasty! I followed the recipe exactly. Have made it many times. It’s my “go to”. Thank you!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you for that great review, Maggi!
Lina White says:
So simple and quick to make! And so many uses for the cheese. Thank you!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you for the wonderful review, Lina! So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe!
Bob says:
This is my first time making cheese. Everything looks like the pictures you provided – thanks for doing that! I’m not sure I did everything right though. I tried the cheese after it cooled for a few minutes as I was super curious. It is kind of squeaky! Is that to be expected? Thanks!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
You might want to squeeze the water out more to have it less ‘squeaky’. When it’s fresh (just made), it’s soft and spongy. After it’s been refrigerated, it sets and becomes harder which is perfect for eating or using in recipes as filling or topping.
Bob says:
Thanks Olga. You were so right. When I took it out of the fridge the next day, it was harder and not squeaky at all. I wonder about adding some salt to the recipe to bring out a little more flavor. Do you have any thoughts on that? Thanks!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
You can add salt if you prefer. We never do because we use the cheese for dessert fillings or to make the cheese pancakes most of the times when we make the cheese and it’s easier to control the salt amount this way.
Cony says:
I made this cheese yesterday and it came out wonderfully creamy and sweet. I only have access to apple cider vinegar so that is what I used. No smell whatsoever. Thank you for an amazing recipe, I live in a country where we don’t have cheese much and I am thrilled to make my own.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe, Cony!
Alicia says:
hello! how much farmer’s cheese does this recipe yield? thank you so much!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
About 4 cups if using whole milk and if you don’t pack it into measuring pack like brown sugar.
Paige says:
My mom and I always make pierogis on Christmas Eve – she never lets us deviate from her family recipe and it always must be made with farmer’s cheese and green onions, eaten w/ sour cream. Year after year it’s difficult for us to find farmer’s cheese in stores as we’re in a more rural area. Supply chain issues have made it impossible to find. We have thrown around the idea of making it from scratch several times, but we were finally forced to this year. This recipe makes us feel so silly! The cheese came out perfectly, and we’re upset we didn’t start using it sooner! Making this recipe is actually simpler than finding it in the store (and about $4 cheaper per lb for us). Thank you for this recipe! Our Christmas traditions continue and now we have a staple recipe for years to come.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
That is amazing! Thank you for sharing that with us. I’m so happy to hear my recipe helped you continue with your family Christmas tradition 🙂
Marcin says:
Great fast awesome tasting cheese!
Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
You’re very welcome, Marcin! So glad you enjoyed it!
Caren Mostisser says:
Fabulous!! I was unable to purchase my usual farmer cheese due to the supply issues. This recipe was even better than the usual name brand cheese that I buy. I did put it in the food processer to get it to a creamer consistency to use in my homemade cheese blintzers. My family said the blintzers were the best I ever made
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you for sharing that with us, Caren! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe!
Bette Dennison says:
Very easy recipe and tastes so good. I’m using it for filling in my pierogi for Christmas Day.
Definitely a keeper recipe to pass down to my family.
Thank you for sharing.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you for the wonderful review, Bette! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe 🙂